CBS CBS Corp

By Tess Stynes 

CBS Corp. said its first-quarter earnings rose 20% as the broadcast of Super Bowl 50 boosted the media giant's advertising sales.

Shares rose 1.9% to $56.70 in recent after-hours trading on the better-than-expected earnings and revenue.

Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said in prepared remarks that the company's quarterly per-share earnings came in above a dollar for the first time in its history.

"Advertising was extremely strong, growing 31% overall and 49% at the CBS Television Network," Mr. Moonves stated.

CBS's growth in television-advertising revenue was driven by the Super Bowl, along with additional National Football League games in 2016, and a 12% increase in underlying network advertising.

CBS previously has said it is less vulnerable to "cord-cutting" and unbundling of cable television packages, thanks to its investments for the future as a content company.

The company's top-ranked CBS Television Network includes popular shows such as "Big Bang Theory" and "NCIS." This year, CBS's over-the-top offerings such as CBS All Access and its Showtime stand-alone streaming service, are expected to begin boosting profits.

Over all, CBS reported a profit of $473 million, or $1.02 a share, up from $394 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 10% to $3.85 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 94 cents and revenue of $3.83 billion.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2016 16:41 ET (20:41 GMT)

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